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Page A-38 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020
‘ Sports
Kayden Lucas, 9, of Allyn is ranked No. 11 in his age group in Washington
by the United States Specialty Sports Assocation after a series of strong
performances at a USSSA tournament in July in Florida. Journal photo Lloyd
Mullen
Ahead of the curve
Allyn youth earns state ranking in Florida
:5me Johnson“-
just/n@masoncounty.com
ayden Lucas had a plan.
The coronavirus pandemic
ad other ideas. '
Lucas, 9, from Allyn, was set to
attend a 9U United States Specialty
Sports Association (USSSA) baseball
evaluation in Tacoma in May after his
parents, Mike and Meghan, signed
him up for it.
From that evaluation, players
would then be selected for a West
Coast travel team to go to Florida for
a weeklong tournament.
But COVID-19 canceled the evalu-
ation.
As it turned out, Lucas got invited
to play in Florida anyway. On July 26
in Melbourne, Florida, Lucas partici—
pated in the All-American games at
the USSSA Space Complex.
“We were told that all the kids
from around the USA (would be) eval-
uated,” Kayden’s father, Mike, wrote
in an email to the Shelton-Mason
County Journal. “Once we were told
that, we got kind of nervous due to
kids coming down (being) really good
and from 'big towns and places where
they can play baseball year round
and Kayden is from the small town of
Allyn, Washington, and might not be
able to compete with all talent from
around the US.
“Boy, we were so wrong. (It was)
an eye-opener. He ranked high and
was placed on the West Coast select
team and was able to play on the
same team (as kids)
from California and
Oregon. He was the
only 9U player from
Washington.”
Players were
evaluated on 60-yard
dash times, fielding
and mechanics, field-
ing arm velocity with
a radar gun, fielding
accuracy, batting exit
velocity, batting pow-
er, mechanics and
contact batting. In
the pitching portion,
players were evalu-
ated with 10 pitches
— six fastballs and
four off-speed pitches
— with a radar gun.
The top 12 players
in each region were
placed on a select team representing
' that region.
“I love the challenge of one-on-one
while pitching against the batter,”
Kayden wrote in an email. “I also love
aaamaawaaa
. is gitaaiag
a ataat
ha er. 3 aisa Esta
slaying baseball
with Manda.”
Kayden Lucas
Youth baseball
player from Allyn
playing baseball with friends.”
Like his favorite Major League
Baseball player, Chicago Cubs’ short-
stop Javier Baez, Kayden wrote that
he likes to play shortstop, which was
where he started for the West Coaét
team, writing, “I get to be in charge
and make a lot of plays.”
During the tournament, Kayden
played several posi-
tions on the field
and pitched in three
games allowing
just four runs to
score.
“My favorite pitch
I throw is a slider/
fastball,” Kayden
wrote. “Mainly be-
cause I am not al-
lowed to throw the
slider all the time
in order to save my
arm”
At the plate,
Kayden struck out
just once — on a high
count called strike ——
at the tournament.
“When I’m up to
bat, I think of hitting
hard, hitting far and
making contact,” Kayden wrote. “I
also think about loading and timing
the pitch, even if it’s a ball or strike.”
Kayden left the Florida event
ranked N o. 11 in the USSSA’s Wash-
ington rankings and is expected to
receive a national ranking soon.
, “I met Kayden toward the end of
April, when his mom and dad reached
out to me and asked if I could watch
their son do some drills and possibly
give him some pointers, so I jumped
on the opportunity to help a future
Bulldog out,” North Mason baseball
coach Rob Thomas wrote in an email.
“As I approached the field, I saw his
dad hitting him some ground balls
and as I watched, I was thinking, ‘this
kid is a natural.’ Kayden’s footwork
as he comes through a ground ball
and his arm strength at his age was
insane to me.”
Thomas added that his favorite
thing about working with Kayden was
that he’s “100% coachable.”
“He knows that he is a good base-
ball player, but he takes instruction
like he is learning it for the first time
and this kid is a grinder,” Thomas
wrote. “I know that there were days
that we would meet and his parents,
would say he had been hitting all
morning before we met up and then
we would practice for an hour to an
hour and a half, and then he would
get back home and keep working.
That is someone that is dedicated to
the sport they love.”
Kayden wrote that getting to play
with kids from all over the country
see CURVE, page A-39